Improvement in fire-escapes



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EZRA ALE, OF CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOE TO HIMSELF ANI) J. BLAKEWALTERS, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FIREESCAPES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 116,659, dated July 4,1871.

To all whom it mayV concern:

Be it known that I, EZRA ALE, of the city and county of Clearfield, inthe State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Fire-Escape; andv I do hereby declare that the following is a full clear, andexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing formin g a part of this specification.

This invention consists in a iiexible ladder of iron or other metal,arranged so that when not in use it is concealed within the lowerbox-like portion ofthe window-casing or wit-hin box provided thereforbelow the window within th e l iouse, one end of the said ladder beingiirmly secured within the said box or casing and the other hav-. ingattached to it a block which serves as a cover or lid to the openingprovided in the top of said box or casing for inserting the ladderlthereinto, and which, on being withdrawn from the said opening andthrown out of the window, extends the ladder on the exterior of thebuilding. The said cover is also furnished with means of securing itreadily to some distant support to forni a bridge over which the inmatesoi' the house might pass when it would be impracticable, on account ofiire below it, to drop the ladder to the street.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a central vertical section of aportion of the front of a house, showing my fire-escape applied, andrepresenting it both in use and in place in the window-casing. Fig. 2 isa front view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a plan of the same, showing thefire-escape extended to form a bridge.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspoiiding parts in all theiigures.

A represents a section of a portion of the front of a house, and B thewindow-casing, the lower portion of which below the sills c et is of theordinary construction, forming a box, B', and has a longitudinalopening, e, in its top, fitted with a block, C, which serves as a cover.This block has secured to it a ring-bolt, G. D D are two chains, whichform the sides of the iiexible ladder, made ot' iron or other suitablemetal, and each secured at one end to one of two sta-ples7 b b, providedtherefor in the interior of the said lower box-like portion oi' thewimlow-casing, and connected at regular intervals throughout theirlength with metal rods, which forni rungs or stretchers E E. The otherends of the said chains are secured to the under side of the block C,and are provided near their ends with hooks F F.

The tireescape thus constructed is out oi sight when not in use, and thegreatadvantages which it possesses over those now in use are, itisalways j ust where it is wanted, can be operated by any one, and can beapplied to any window without disiiguring it.

In ordinary cases all that is necessary to render the iireescapeoperative is to lift out the block or cover C and allow it to drop outof the window down to the ground, and so carry the lowerl ends of thechains with it and extend the ladder; but in some cases, when a iire israging below the room from which it is desirable to escape, and descenttherefrom prevented, the tireescape may be dropped from the window asbeibre--ibr, being constructed wholly of metal, it will not beburned-and a rope may be attached to the ring-bolt Gr provided on theblock C, and that end ot' the tire-escape raised and hooked to anopposite house or other suitable support by means of the hooks F Fprovided on the block, and be thereby made to form a bridge on which'boards may be placed for the escape of inmates of the room. Flexiblewire rope might be substituted for the chains I) D.

What I. claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The combination of the tlexible metal ladder, the box B within thewiiulow-casing or room, and the cover or block C, substantially as andfor the purpose herein described.

EZRA ALE.

Titn esses WM. RADEBAUGi-I, D. Anims, Jr.

